"The PNA has appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) and private hospitals to increase their hiring of new nurses to help new nursing graduates find work."
"Even with an "oversupply" of nurses, the current nurse-to-patient ratio in the country is 1 nurse to 160 to 180 patients."
More than 89,000 nursing graduates across the country took the Nursing Licensure Examination on Saturday, a record number according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The PRC Board of Nursing said the number of examinees is the largest in the country's history.
Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president Dr. Leah Paquiz said they are expecting a 43 percent passing rate for this weekend's examination, or an estimated 38,000 new nurses by January 2009.
The only problem, Paquiz said, is how these new nurses would find work in the country.
She said the Philippines has an "oversupply" of nurses, while its Asian neighbors such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, as well as European and North American countries, are in short supply of nurses.
Paquiz said the Philippines could help these countries in addressing their nursing problems, but for Filipino nurses to go abroad they should first have two years' experience in the country - which now poses a problem, since both public and private hospitals do not hire new nurses regularly.
Even with an "oversupply" of nurses, the current nurse-to-patient ratio in the country is 1 nurse to 160 to 180 patients.
The PNA said this is an alarming situation because this could affect the performance of Filipino nurses.
The PNA has appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) and private hospitals to increase their hiring of new nurses to help new nursing graduates find work. -- With a report from Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News
The way I see it, this is just a cycle. It happened before, it is happening again. In the 80s to 90s there was a "mass exodus" of RNs from the Philippines that headed to the US, Canada, and the Middle East. During the early 90s, when the Philippines had already so many RNs and the job vacancies locally and abroad were filled, hiring was halted. I know someone who is a Nursing Educator from the Philippines and she said that for the next couple of years, their enrollment dropped from hundreds to 10 students. I even remember that at one point, when I was about to enter College, one prestigious university was lenient in accepting students to their BSN program (which was unusual because a BSN program was usually a quota program or course) because at that time no one was really interested to be an RN. Then 2000 came. Doors to foreign places started to open to Filipino RNs again. It's 2008, there is retrogression, opportunities are not plentiful, and the economy is bad. But they say that once you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up! It will take a while. But hopefully, things get better in the future. Be positive.
Well this is probably just a ballpark assessment.. In reality, it is around 2 nurses is to 60 patients. Either way, it is STILL insane! I work in a government medical center.. We currently have a average census of 40-47 patients per day with only two nurses on duty, plus a nursing assistant.
I'd like to inform you all that everyday's a living HELL. (or I can't imagine hell being much worse..) :chuckle
Don't you have volunteer nurses to help you? What about student nurses? Are they on the floor? I understand student nurses have one patient to 15 students why not take 15 and relieve your pain.
If only PNA could dictate hospitals to alter their hiring patterns, as it is they could only plead. There are some private hospitals where the waiting line for nurses to be hired in January 2009 is up to 2,000. There is definitely a maldistribution of nurses who only want to work in the urban areas. Too many nurses, not enough jobs.
Are you saying the Philippine nurses are refusing work in rural areas? Where do they think they will be working in the USA? The rural areas are the one of the areas nurses are needed.
Specializes in Psychiatry, Neuro and Neuro-Surgical.
Just out of personal curiosity how is 1 nurse to 160-180 patients even
remotely possible? Is this a clerical error or am I missing something
about nursing in the Phillippines?
Thanks for educating me.
well, this article is logically and rationally referring to nurse:community people ratio, not nurse:patient ratio just to clarify things out. and obviously, there is no such hospital in the philippines existing w/ ward capacity of that much patients w/ only 1 nurse (common! seriously?!?). and to remind you all, nurses are not exclusive just to hospitals. :zzzzz
Don't you have volunteer nurses to help you? What about student nurses? Are they on the floor? I understand student nurses have one patient to 15 students why not take 15 and relieve your pain.
i don't know where that info of 1 patient : 15 student ratio came from but as for our training before, we're on 1:1 ratio when I was a student. and also, we're talking of liabilities here...not simply divertion of burdens. :wink2:
15 Student nurses to 1 patient? Is that for real? I mean,how can you do the tasks if there are 15 student nurses sharing for 1 patient? I haven't encountered anything like that during my student days. In fact,we usually have 1 student nurse: 1-5 patients,depending on how full the floor is..
Yes,it is really ironic. I've said it sometime before that if only hospitals follow the correct nurse:patient ratio,there will be more hiring. My fellow batchmates who are working already often complain that their supervisors ask them to do a straight 16 hour duty.. I mean,with the number of nurses here in phil,there is no reason why hospital should lack staff nurses. And with the stress of working ,all they get is 250 pesos/8 hours.. That amount cannot really compensate for all the stress that they went through.
I am so frustrated and hopeless.. I mean,all i can do is plea..but how can my plea be heard if i dont know any nurse supervisors,politicians or simply,a person who has the power? We want change but what power do we have? How can we new nurses make the people up above to notice our pleas?
Specializes in Psychiatry, Neuro and Neuro-Surgical.
well, somehow somewhere, i think that the government isn't solely to be blamed here but the students / people themselves. i mean, given all theses crises, how can they still believe that nursing is a very in demand job. why still enroll and contribute to the blowing population of unemployed nurses? not only do they feed the hunger for greed of the universities who are collecting massive amounts of money but corrupting their future as well.
from the very beginning, let us bear in mind that the nurse - patient ratio in the Philippines is already off the grid but this is not because there are no supplies of nurses. There never was a shortage in the first place locally. the problem is in budget sector. the government doesn't have enough finances to support additional manpower no matter now gratifying the result would be should they hire additional people.
that is the problem...and the reason these massive enrollees enter the profession is not to mend the unjustifiable ratio anyway but to get employed abroad. influenced by all the offers of dollars, family relatives, ambitions, etc. and now that they have figured out that going abroad is simply a strand away from impossibility, they are putting all the blames to the government again. im not a government fan, but then, let us be reminded that misery in life is the result of your own choices and decision. it was your choice to enter the profession you have known not to be in need of additional people. perhaps out of world peace, but well, misery is half the burden when shared right?
and also, PNA itself is part of this big money sucking cycle from the very beginning. what would you expect them to do? gosh! 88k board takers, how many passers...$_$ new members for the association, more budget...better christmas and new year for all of them. Bless them all!
i don't know where that info of 1 patient : 15 student ratio came from but as for our training before, we're on 1:1 ratio when I was a student. and also, we're talking of liabilities here...not simply divertion of burdens. :wink2:
I know someone who said there was 4 student nurses to one patient...15 seems outrageous....but it seems like it can be possible with all these cookie cutter nursing schools popping up like crazy and having 3000 graduates per year per school...so it is possible to have 15 students to 1 patient now-a-days...and how many hospitals did they rotate the students to? I'm sure there are other schools there too that are using the same hospitals....and how many nursing graduates took the exam 89,000?...How many of these 89,000 graduates were taught by experienced nurses? If they weren't taught by experienced nurses and didn't have an adequate amount of good hands on clinical experience where they actually insert foley's, IV's, dispense meds, do assessments etc etc...then they really have no business taking the NCLEX or NLE...They would be considered a hazard on the floor...Not all their fault, blame should be placed on their government and the poorly ran schools (the good schools excluded, I know there are plenty) who don't seem to care.
The Philippines needs to take care of their citizens and stop relying on other countries to employ their graduates...No other country has the duty to hire them, and the schools need to quit putting it in the students head that they can get a job overseas because that most likely isn't possible...If there aren't jobs available in the Philippines, then programs should be put on moratorium until jobs become available or just close them down period.
that's what happened to the nursing program in our school in the early 90s..even though they are performing well(at least for Philippine standards), they have to stop the program since many of their graduates can no longer find a job..
it was in 2002 that they started to open again but im not sure if they're going to close it down again..But i think that if we are to close down nursing schools,those who are performing poorly should be on top of the list..So the commission on higher education along with the PNA should be very strict with their accreditation..
Specializes in Hemodialysis, Operating Room Nurse, PACU.
I know someone who said there was 4 student nurses to one patient...15 seems outrageous....but it seems like it can be possible with all these cookie cutter nursing schools popping up like crazy and having 3000 graduates per year per school...so it is possible to have 15 students to 1 patient now-a-days...and how many hospitals did they rotate the students to? I'm sure there are other schools there too that are using the same hospitals....and how many nursing graduates took the exam 89,000?...How many of these 89,000 graduates were taught by experienced nurses? If they weren't taught by experienced nurses and didn't have an adequate amount of good hands on clinical experience where they actually insert foley's, IV's, dispense meds, do assessments etc etc...then they really have no business taking the NCLEX or NLE...They would be considered a hazard on the floor...Not all their fault, blame should be placed on their government and the poorly ran schools (the good schools excluded, I know there are plenty) who don't seem to care.
The Philippines needs to take care of their citizens and stop relying on other countries to employ their graduates...No other country has the duty to hire them, and the schools need to quit putting it in the students head that they can get a job overseas because that most likely isn't possible...If there aren't jobs available in the Philippines, then programs should be put on moratorium until jobs become available or just close them down period.
And how sure are you of these things? You speak as if you know everything about the nursing situation in the philippines? And for your information, there are a LOT more countries out there that would appreciate filipino nurses.. We don't need you, wherever and whoever you are.
These nursing students worked hard to get their degree. So what if they did come from "cookie cutter nursing schools"?! as you blatantly put. As long as they pass our nursing boards.. I am sure that you have your own "mushroom-sprouted" nursing schools in YOUR country! And SURELY there are ALSO nursing graduates from your country that are incompetent, taught by equally incompetent nursing instructors. When given the chance, these graduates CAN and WILL be the best they can be in doing their job! Outperforming even YOU people in Nursing! So you might want to think about what you're saying. True, the philippine nursing situation is quite in the gutter right now. But I asure you it will BE resolved, maintained and improved.
The Philippines needs to take care of their citizens and stop relying on other countries to employ their graduates...No other country has the duty to hire them, and the schools need to quit putting it in the students head that they can get a job overseas because that most likely isn't possible...If there aren't jobs available in the Philippines, then programs should be put on moratorium until jobs become available or just close them down period.
The first sentence says a lot. Since the Marcos years there has been a dramatically increasing drive for Pinoys to get overseas to find work because the economy here has been on a constantly downward spiral.
Imagine that the government is so corrupt that they actually manipulate the peso-dollar exchange rate in order to encourage their own agenda? When the dollar drops against every other currency in the world it will still be high here because the government is more interested in kissing the butts of American businesses and government officials than in maintaining a stable economy.
Beyond that, in the USA you all should put pressure on the lawmakers to maintain ethical hiring practices by the hospitals and other industries that consume Pinoy workers.
Retrogression has been in place for HOW long now? Do you know that this week there was a group of staffing people from a major hospital chain in the USA shoring up agreements with headhuntng agencies and collecting photographs, bios and resume's of nurses here? Why? because they are waiting for retrogression to be lifted so that they can speed the best ones through processing and get them in the USA as soon as possible. The hospitals aren't hiring US nurses when they can hire Filipinos at a lower rate for the future.
It's coming from all sides, there is no single source to blame for any of this.
Specializes in Neuro-Surgery, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I know someone who said there was 4 student nurses to one patient...15 seems outrageous....but it seems like it can be possible with all these cookie cutter nursing schools popping up like crazy and having 3000 graduates per year per school...so it is possible to have 15 students to 1 patient now-a-days...and how many hospitals did they rotate the students to? I'm sure there are other schools there too that are using the same hospitals....and how many nursing graduates took the exam 89,000?...How many of these 89,000 graduates were taught by experienced nurses? If they weren't taught by experienced nurses and didn't have an adequate amount of good hands on clinical experience where they actually insert foley's, IV's, dispense meds, do assessments etc etc...then they really have no business taking the NCLEX or NLE...They would be considered a hazard on the floor...Not all their fault, blame should be placed on their government and the poorly ran schools (the good schools excluded, I know there are plenty) who don't seem to care.
When I was a student nurse in the mid to late 1970's we started with 1 patient to 1 student nurse ratio. The ratio gradually rose to 2 patients and finally to 4 patients per 1 student nurse.
Yes, we did almost everything a duly licensed RN would do for a patient and we received excellent hands-on experience in the process. Of course we were under the supervision of a competent clinical instructor, the one with an actual hospital experience I might add.
I believed I was ready when I became an RN in California, thanks to the excellent nursing education I received in the Philippines in the 1970's.
Unlike these days many of the nursing schools in the Philippines have incompetent administrators who hire clinical instructors who have never worked as staff nurses prior to becoming clinical instructors.
I don't blame these clinical instructors. The blame is on the school administrators and on the government offficials that let this condition to happen.
And hopefully Filipinos will open their eyes to the brutal reality that a nursing degree is no longer the ticket to a lucrative overseas nursing job it once was.
The Philippines needs to take care of their citizens and stop relying on other countries to employ their graduates...No other country has the duty to hire them, and the schools need to quit putting it in the students head that they can get a job overseas because that most likely isn't possible...If there aren't jobs available in the Philippines, then programs should be put on moratorium until jobs become available or just close them down period.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Philippines is a third world country that hasn't been able to achieve high employment rate for its population, and may never do so for many more generations to come.
Many of its best minds have left the country for greener pastures overseas, therefore these talents are no longer available to help solve the many social, economic and political problems of the Philippines.
Add widespread government corruption from top to bottom and you have the formula for an economy that is and will always be in the dump.
The politically influential Catholic church is against all forms of artificial birth control, rightly or wrongly. The Philippines' population will continue to explode because the current administration is spineless to contradict the Catholic church.
Millions of Filipinos will relentlessly attempt to leave the Philippines because of overpopulation and other social problems. The modern day Filipinos are like the Europeans in past centuries when they left Europe for better future in the Americas and Australasia.
Until recently many countries hired skilled Filipino laborers, Filipino nurses included, to help solve their labor shortages but that demand has dramatically decreased these last few months due to the global economic recession.
I pity the hundreds of thousands of unemployed Filipino registered nurses looking for jobs that are non existent. I'm sure all will pray and hope for a better future.
I did the exact same thing before and after I passed the California nursing state board examination many full moons ago. I hoped and prayed. That was almost three decades ago, but I have never stopped hoping and praying.
As I prepare to conclude my two-month vacation from my nursing profession I will pray for my fellow Filipino nurses who are dreaming of finding work...as nurses.
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I work in a government medical center.. We currently have a average census of 40-47 patients per day with only two nurses on duty, plus a nursing assistant. 
rn4ever?
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The way I see it, this is just a cycle. It happened before, it is happening again. In the 80s to 90s there was a "mass exodus" of RNs from the Philippines that headed to the US, Canada, and the Middle East. During the early 90s, when the Philippines had already so many RNs and the job vacancies locally and abroad were filled, hiring was halted. I know someone who is a Nursing Educator from the Philippines and she said that for the next couple of years, their enrollment dropped from hundreds to 10 students. I even remember that at one point, when I was about to enter College, one prestigious university was lenient in accepting students to their BSN program (which was unusual because a BSN program was usually a quota program or course) because at that time no one was really interested to be an RN. Then 2000 came. Doors to foreign places started to open to Filipino RNs again. It's 2008, there is retrogression, opportunities are not plentiful, and the economy is bad. But they say that once you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up! It will take a while. But hopefully, things get better in the future. Be positive.